We continue our journey into every word spoken by Jesus in the Gospels to help us all KNOWJESUSMORE NOW.

Imagine for a moment that you’re Jesus. You have one last meal with your disciples. What lesson do you want to leave them with and how will you teach it?

In describing the scene, one eyewitness began his account with these words:

Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.

Let me ask my question another way. If you knew that (1) you had all the power in the universe, (2) your betrayer was sitting right there at the table with you, (3) he would turn you in for thirty measly silver coins to the religious leaders who would falsely convict you in a mockery of a travesty of a sham of a trial and (4) you would be tortured, spat on, publicly humiliated and then crucified by the Romans, what would YOU do?

Incinerate Judas? Smack down the religious leaders? Blow up the Romans? Beam yourself up to heaven?

Well, here’s what Jesus did:

So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet.”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”